Below are Josh Frydenberg’s Ten Lessons to Get Liberals Back on Track, following the defeat of the Napthine government last Saturday. But maybe the Secretary to the Prime Minister is giving his boss a bit of advice as well. Couldn’t help myself …

One: Develop a clear narrative consistent with Liberal philosophy. Well, First Dog on the Moon’s got that one sorted. ‘Kill the Poor’ is probably my favourite of his suggestions. The Liberals already have a perfectly clear and consistent narrative: take from the poor and give to the rich, otherwise known as supply side economics. The problem is that if this narrative were actually spelt out, it would be deeply unpopular electorally. If you want an alternative economic narrative, read this article about how we need to build a combination of business capital, infrastructure, human capital, intellectual capital, natural capital and social capital.

Two: Communication is key. Possibly, but it depends on what you’ve got to communicate. As pollsters Lewis and Woods report, the budget, for example, ‘has been perceived as being unfair from day one, the perception being that the delivery on the promise to cut the debt was actually a fig leaf for wider ideological indulgences.’ Hard to polish a turd.

Three: Challenge the right of partisan unionists to openly campaign in uniform against the sitting government. Public servants identifying themselves as such at polling booths – not cricket, eh Josh? So are we going to challenge the right of partisan big miners to take out paid advertisements against a government policy? To say nothing of the partisan media. The Liberals have only themselves to blame. They have politicised the public service by forcing cuts to services which those who are supposed to deliver them know are essential. If they aren’t going to shut up about it, well, chickens do fly home to roost. The sky is dark with them.

Four: Never let the public forget the failures of your political predecessors. How’s the ‘blame Labor’ mantra working for you fifteen months after the election? By all means choose to go on as you started – negative and vindictive. But I think you’ll find voters can be inspired by policies that promise a better future.

Five: Disunity is death. You’re probably right. But it’s hard to stay united when backbenchers see the destructive policies of their leaders eating away at their electoral support. Watch this space.

Six: Avoid the fringe and play to the middle. And just how is the Liberal government doing on that one? Trying to destroy Medicare, opposing effective action on climate change, cutting the ABC, trying to make higher education prohibitively expensive for ordinary students – all of this is motivated by basic right wing ideology, much of it set out well before the election by the right-wing think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs. The Abbott government is doing its best to tick off all seventy-five items on their wish list. Parties should avoid opening up damaging debates on issues already settled, you say. Really? Trying to water down section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act fits in with this advice how?

Seven: Incumbency is providing a diminishing return. Possibly, but hardly a rule of political life, and only if incumbency includes breaking promises and bringing in legislation that helps your mates and hurts everyone else. The Liberals totally negative election agenda got them elected – but isn’t proving an asset in government.

Eight: Don’t leave election announcements too late because more people vote early. OK. But expect a high degree of cynicism about election policies whether they are announced early or late in the campaign. ‘No cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS.’ Recall those promises Josh? More like lies, really, made to be broken. Who’s going to believe anything you say next time? A record of meaningful achievement is worth more than a few carrots at election time.

Nine: Regroup, renew. I’m betting there will be a Federal Liberal government redistribution fairly soon. Again, watch this space. But you don’t get much renewal when you stick to the same inequitable and punitive policies that have got you into trouble in the first place.

Ten: There is always a silver lining. Hmm. It’s true as you say that the Greens are splitting the progressive vote, but there are a very limited number of areas where Labor will vote with the Liberals against them. Hardly a recipe for future Liberal success. And if I were you Josh, I’d be paying a bit more attention to the Nationals. Lots of country people – National voters up till now – are realising that climate change is their very real enemy and that renewable energy is their friend. No wonder the big end of town is getting upset by GetUp’s new ad showing rural support for wind energy.

While we’re on an advice-giving kick, can I suggest Eleven, Josh? Don’t rely on your mates in the Murdoch press to guarantee you a smooth ride. It’s dangerous on two fronts. First, they hate failure and turn against you if there’s a sniff of it. Second, they are becoming increasingly irrelevant as newspaper sales fall and people look elsewhere for news and opinion. As you say, ‘advertising via Facebook and Google is often more likely to connect with the swinging voter’. But you need to have something to say that they want to hear – and maybe these people who use these platforms think that a fiber to the node NBN wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

I don’t blame you for trying to take lessons from the history. As your quote from Aldous Huxley, ‘That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history,’ is probably spot on. But I think I’ll go with a different one: Talleyrand, of the Bourbons – read the Abbott government – ‘They learned nothing and forgot nothing’.

1. Interesting that Frydenberg should quote Aldus Huxley. He’s the one that said in 1934 that ‘Universal education has created an immense class of what I may call the New Stupid.’ Universal education is clearly what current Liberal policy on university fees is seeking to avoid. Must be worried about the new stupid.